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Naama gets Therapeutic Massage to maintain her
muscle tone, as well as relieving muscle spasms, and reducing muscular tension.
Naama's has two massage therapists Tiffany
Trusk and Barb Koscielak who use Body Mobolization Techniques to increase Naama's range of motion and delay muscular atrophy.
Naama is worked on at least three times a week and has maintained her muscle tone we believe due therapy.
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At least 5 times a week, Naama is put on a tilt table.
She
does this with her father. She starts in a lying down position and the table is slowing turned until Naama is standing up.
This is essential for blood circulation and for streching the achilies tendon.
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Naama spent 4 months at the Hyperbaric Chambers
in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where she received over 300 treatments of oxygen. Naama was placed in the oxygen chamber (see pictures)
twice a day, six days a week.
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Naama continues to receive extensive therapy
while at home. Even though we are still fighting the insurance company to pay, Naama has several different therapies each
day. We have been very fortunate to find qualified therapists who care about Naama and are willing to come to our home and
work with Naama.
The therapies that Naama receives are:
Speech Therapy
Physical Therapy
Cranial Sacral Therapy
Accupuncture
Viscralar
Therapy
Massage Therapy
Aqua Therapy
Reconnective Energy Therapy
Electrical Stimulation Therapy
Oil Therapy
and
as we continue to research and explore we hope to add other therapies to this list in order to help bring Naama back
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ACCUPUNTURE is a very important therapy that Naama
receives twice a week. Acupuncture needles are inserted into Naama's meridian points and then hooked up to a small electrical
charger. Samantha Lee and her father Dr. Sou also treat Naama with a special herbal drink that Naama drinks every day. We
believe that acupuncture helps to send signals to Naama's brain and might help in the reconnection that we are looking for.
It also helps in keeping the body free of pain.
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Naama has speech therapy 4 times a week. Through
speech therapy Naama can now eat regular food, and has no feeding tube. It took many hours of hard work to teach Naama to
swallow and chew. She is still working on all these areas and more.
The speech therapists are also working with Naama on
tracking pictures, associating objects with smells and trying to talk.
Using picture cards, word cards, lotions and food,
the therapists try and stimulate Naama's senses. Some days Naama is able to correctly identify and locate specific pictures
when asked. She also smells a certain object and then is asked to find the object of the smell in a picture by looking at
it. Naama on certain days is able to do this, and at other times, doesn't seem to respond.
Both of Naama's speech therapists
believe that Naama is trying to communicate and is working hard with them to make the connection.
Jerri Krantz her therapist
and aunt,
is busy going to conferences and learning new information everyday to help Naama. She recently returned from
a seminar dealing with eating and is hoping that one day soon Naama will be able to bite into her favorite food, Lou Malnati's
pizza.
We hope so too, and are sure that Naama can't wait.
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Naama works with a PHYSICAL THERAPIST 2-3 times a
week. The physical therapist works on many different things, including head control. Naama is put on her stomach, walked on
her knees, hangs from a chin up bar, sits on a ball, rolls on the ball, and many other positions to try and send the signals
back to her brain. The brain needs to be retrained to send the correct messages to Naama's muscles so they can remember how
to do things.
The physical therapist also spins Naama in a chair for vestibule response.
Since only a small portion
of our brain is used, we are doing all these therapies to get the remaining healthy areas of Naama's brain to pick up the
slack
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Naama goes to AQUA THERAPY twice a week. In the
pool Naama is able to float freely, which must feel wonderful to her, since she is always sitting, or lying on something.
In the pool the therapist works with Naama on head control, moving her legs and stretching her arms. It seems that things
are easier to manipulate while in the water and Naama really seems much more relaxed in the water.
Naama
works twice a week with Susan Levine a CRANIAL SACRAL THERAPIST.
Cranial sacral therapy is a gentle, hands-on method of
evaluating and enhancing the functioning of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system - comprised of the
membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
Using a soft touch generally
no greater than 5 grams, or about the weight of a nickel, practitioners release restrictions in the craniosacral system to
improve the functioning of the central nervous system.
Naama loves Susie and always seems very relaxed after her therapy.
naama page 4
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